Flights to and from Ko Samui

With Bangkok Airways owning and operating Samui International Airport, most flights to and from the island are on this airline. There are however a few other carriers that fly to Ko Samui. Here’s a rundown on your flight options.

Samui’s entrypoint for many.

You can fly from most destinations to Samui on codeshare options, usually meaning a stopover in Bangkok, Phuket, Hong Kong, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. The flights mentioned here, however, are direct options with no stopovers.

Bangkok Airwaysoffers no fewer than 13 flights from Bangkok to Samui daily. The first departs Bangkok at 06:00 and the last leaves at 21:00, so it’s nearly one every hour. Thai Airways also offers flights from the capital twice daily, one leaving at 07:45 and the second at 15:20.

Phuket International Airport is a hub to and from many other Southeast Asia destinations, so Bangkok Airways’ second busiest route to Samui is from Phuket, with three flights per day: 09:35, 16:00 and 19:05.

It doesn’t matter how you get here, just get here.

Staying on the Andaman coast, there’s a daily flight from Krabi, leaving at 13:45 daily.

From Pattaya the daily flight departs at 17:15 and from Chiang Mai in the north there’s a flight leaving at noon. Should you require different flight times from Pattaya, an option is leaving from Bangkok, as the bus ride from Pattaya to the capital’s airport is not too long.

Singapore has a Bangkok Airways flight leaving at 20:35 local time, while Singapore Air’s budget carrier, Silk Air, departs at 08:10 local time. Bangkok Airways flies twice daily from Hong Kong, leaving at 09:05 and 16:15 local time, while if you’re coming from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, you have two options. The first is with Malaysian budget airline Firefly, which departs at 14:20 local time, and the other is with Bangkok Airways at 08:45.

Whichever airline you choose, you’ll be met by these cute trams to take you to the terminal.

For cheaper flights, and if you have more time to spare, fly to Surat Thani on either Air Asia or Nok Air, then take a bus to Donsak and a ferry to Samui. The bus, ferry and additional waiting time adds about five hours to your travel time, and will save you around 1,500 baht, per person, one way.

For more information, prices and up-to-date flight schedules, or to make a reservation, visit the airlines’ websites.

Last reviewed by: Rosanne Turner
Rosanne Turner relocated to Thailand in 2010 from South Africa. She enjoys sharing her discoveries of Samui after walking every beach, hill, coconut grove and forgotten path in search of that memory-making beach bar. You can follow her blog at Travelling Pen.